The Ballad of Long Kesh

Melody -

There's a place just outside Lisburn
A place we all should know,
Where a band of Irish rebels
Is held by Priorís crew.
They are forced to live in cages
Like the animals at Bellevue
But the spirit of Ninteen Sixteen
Will surely see them through.

2. The men that's in that prison
They come from near and far,
Some from the Derry Bogside,
And Omagh town so dear,
And some of them from Belfast
From the Markets and the Bone
From the narrow streets of Ardoyne,
And from all around Tyrone.

3. On that black day in August
When Faulkner showed his hand
He thought that by internment
He could shake our rebel band,
But the boys of Ballymurphy
How they showed the way that night,
And they showed the English soldiers
How Irishmen could fight.

4. Long Kesh is known to everyone
The system must be broke,
Ardoyne, New Lodge, and the Falls Road
Will see the system choke.
No more the Special Powers Act,
Those cruel deeds will revoke,
And Long Kesh will be the stone
On which the system broke.

5. So come all you Irish people
Be you far or near,
Remember our brave prisoners
In Long Kesh this year,
And by civil disobedience
Or by your chosen means
Let's make our stand until the day
Each one of them is free.